Sole Survivor
by UnKnownSalvation
Summary: Steven had always been a happy and optimistic child but when the only thing he had to a mentor, a sister, and a mother all disappear from his life, how will Steven handle being the last Gem to protect the Earth? Maybe with Connie, Lion and Greg helping, he just might find a way.
1. And Then There Was One

_**Sole Survivor**_

_**Ch. 1: And Then There Was One**_

A few weeks had passed since the ocean was returned to Beach City, after Steven and the Gems' climactic fight against Lapis Lazuli. Slowly, but surely, normality eventually returned to the city and business resumed as usual with the summer tourism coming in full force. The city was alive with buzz, as the beach was littered with people from all walks of life. Steven, wearing nothing more than his sandals and swimming trunks was no exception, as he chilled on the beach building a huge sand castle with Amethyst. Pearl and Garnet, however, were standing just a few meters away from them, talking with one another with something very important.

"It's been a few weeks and there still hasn't been any activity," Pearl explained to Garnet.

"I know but I can feel as if that's about to change soon," Garnet mentioned.

"Which is why we need to keep our guards up until then," Pearl reasoned.

"Guys, how come you're not having fun with us?" both Garnet and Pearl turned and saw Steven right next to them.

"Yeah, you two! This is no time to be beach bummers!" Amethyst called out, still building the sand castle. Pearl rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Steven.

"Steven, I know that you want us to relax, but there are a few gem creatures out there that can attack at any time," Pearl explained.

"But there hasn't been one for weeks," Steven countered.

"We still have to be ready," said Garnet.

"You guys are paranoid!" Amethyst said as she placed a purple flag on top of their ten foot tall castle. "If there was going to be an attack, it would have let us know by now!"

Suddenly, Steven, the Gems and everyone on the beach felt a large tremor and screech that shook every inch of the city and caused Steven and Amethyst's castle to crumble to dust.

"NO!" Steven shouted to the heavens in despair. "We didn't even get to take a picture of it!"

"Oh it's on now!" Amethyst agreed, mad that all that hard work was destroyed. "No monster destroys my castle and gets away with it!"

"But we don't know where it even is!" Pearl pointed out in an attempt to calm Amethyst down. Just then, a giant hole appeared in the sand, leading down into a dark cavern.

"I think it's that way," Garnet stated the obvious, as the trio turned to her. "Just a hunch."

"Then, what are waiting for? Let's whoop its sorry butt!" Amethyst said fired up, as she summoned her whip out of the gem in her chest, let out a war cry and jumped cavern entrance.

"Does she know where she's going?" Pearl asked.

"Considering her, no," Garnet answered, motioning for Pearl and Steven to follow, as they raced after Amethyst.

* * *

><p>After having Steven put a shirt on, Garnet, Pearl, and him went in after Amethyst. Fortunately, they were able to catch up to Amethyst before she got lost and ended up going around in circles. Garnet then caused both gems from her hands to glow, illuminating the caverns, before she leads her friends to the source of the large tremor.<p>

"Remember, do not split up," Garnet informed her friends.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Amethyst simply sassed.

"Says the one who leaped into the hole first," Pearl countered.

"At least I was ready to battle," Amethyst argued.

"Letting out a war cry and charging head first isn't what I describe as preparation," Pearl argued back.

"Guys; please, don't fight," Steven pleaded with a quivering lip, as he could feel another fight coming.

"Steven's right, we need to focus right now," Garnet agreed.

Both Pearl and Amethyst sighed and gave each other an half-hearted apology, before the group entered an area in the shape of huge circular dome that was the size of a stadium, with it having to be at least 200 feet from the ceiling to the floor. Stalagmites and stalactites covered the room and made an enormous amount of places to hide.

"If the creature could make a tremor like that, it must be too big to hide in here," Pearl deduced.

"So where is it?" Amethyst asked. "Cause I don't see no sand castle wrecking monster anywhere."

"It's here. I can feel it," Garnet replied.

Just then, the group felt another large tremor coming there, being much erratic compared to the previous one. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl summoned their weapons, ready to face whatever it was coming their way. But then, the tremor stopped suddenly as it started and coming out of the stalagmites, was…

"Is that...a seagull?" Amethyst asked out loud. Indeed it was, as a small seagull started to hop out from behind the stalagmites. It's wing was bent in a way that it wasn't supposed to, showing it was injured.

"What is something like that doing down here?" Pearl asked, just as confused as Amethyst.

"Maybe it injured its wing and must have made its way here," Steven concluded, as he began to get close to the injured bird. "Don't worry, little guy, I won't hurt you." Suddenly, Garnet noticed a very thin string attached to the seagull's leg.

"Steven, wait!" Garnet shouted.

But it was too late, as the "seagull" rose up, followed by another large tremor, as something was slowly rising up from under the floor. Upon getting a good look at it, it turned out to be another gem creature; a giant crab with a dark green armored body, covered in sharp, light green crystals, the "seagull" being nothing more than a lure on a string at the top of its head, with four claws at each side and eight legs sticking out; its piercing black eyes staring the Gems down.

"Aah!" Steven shouted with horror, too shock to move his body, as the lure attempted to snatch him. Fortunately, Amethyst quickly grabbed Steven with her whip and pulled him back to them.

"Thanks, Amethyst," Steven expressed his gratitude.

"Don't mention it, Stevie," Amethyst simply said, before she rushed towards the Crystal Crab.

"We'll take it from here, Steven. Just get behind something sturdy," Garnet ordered, to which Steven replied with a salute before running off into the stalagmite maze.

"This is for destroying our sand castle!" Amethyst shouted, whipping the Crystal Crab like mad, with Garnet pummeling it and Pearl jabbing its underbelly, getting slight pierces.

The Crystal Crab, however, reacted with an annoyed roar and quickly shook off their attacks like they were nothing, stomping the ground as hard as it can, with the shock waves knocking all three Gems down. As they all got up, the Crystal Crab immediately struck back with surprising speed, using its four claws at them, prompting Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl to deflect each and every one them as best they could. But the crab's bizarre agility was starting to wear them down and Garnet, in particular, was unable to deflect it any longer, as one of the claw knocked her out to the ground. Garnet got up as quickly as she could, but the crab got to her first, quickly piercing Garnet with one of its sharp legs. She could feel the sharp leg piercing through her and with one last gasp, Garnet disappeared into smoke, leaving only her gems to take her place.

"GARNET!" both Amethyst and Pearl shouted in horror, realizing the strongest of them had just been beat, before the former quickly leaped at the Crystal Crab with righteous anger.

"This is for Garnet!" Amethyst declared out loud, as she summoned a second whip, as she proceeded to whip the Crystal Crab in a mad frenzy, along with Pearl desperately trying to pierce its tough skin after summoning a second spear, with much more success. It's armor was resistant to slashes and blunt force but was weak to stabbing weapons which Pearl began to abuse. Steven sprung into action but tripped over a fallen stalagmite and just as he went to get up, found that his shorts were now caught because of a fallen stalactite that just barely missed hitting the boy himself.

Again, the Crystal Crab reacted with annoyance, shaking off their attacks once again, this time, grabbing Amethyst whip, with its owner still clinging on it, as it brutally whipped her back and forth without mercy. Eventually, it whipped to the ground very hard, leaving an injured and daze Amethyst, just as Steven peaked out from the stalagmites to see what was going on.

"Amethyst, are you...alright?" Steven asked with his voice full of sadness and worrisome. The boy could only watch helplessly with tearful eyes as his friends were getting pummeled.

"It's okay, Steven. No pain...no gain, right?" Amethyst joked.

Sadly, it was the last thing she would say, as the Crystal Crab's claw quickly slammed her into the wall, shaking most of the cave and causing Amethyst to disappear in smoke, leaving behind her gemstone.

"AMETHYST!" Steven and Pearl shouted with shock.

Caught right off guard by this, Pearl failed to notice one of the crab's claw grabbing her, picking her up, as it began to crush her body. Pearl struggled to free herself, but it was no use; the Crystal Crab's claw was too powerful and it's grip was starting to tighten, squeezing her as hard as it can.

'_Too strong...I can't...break free,' _Pearl thought, her body too weak to do anything, as she turn her gaze at Steven. "Steven...you have...to run," she barely blurted out, just as the crab succeeded in crushing her, causing Pearl to disappear and leaving her gemstone on the ground.

"PEARL!" Steven shouted, horrified that the Gems have been utterly defeated. His tears finally broke through and started pouring down his face.

But there was no time for Steven to mourn for his loss; the Crystal Crab finally noticed Steven hiding behind the stalagmites and with one tremendous roar, began to stalk the now frightened boy. Steven finally managed to rip his shorts out from under the stalactite and took off running as fast as he could into the maze of stalagmites, but they were no match for the crab, easily destroyed by its towering body, before he ran straight into a dead end, with no other way out, before he slowly turned to face the Crystal Crab. All he could do was put up a bubble and pray something saves him.

'_Oh man! This looks like the end for Steven Universe!' _Steven thought, as he continued to stare at the monstrous crab, too frightened to move his body.

The Crystal Crab, in turn, continued to stare down at Steven, like it was nothing more than an ant and slowly approached the frighten boy. Unbeknownst to it, a giant stalactite was hovering above, its foundation starting to crack due to the Crystal Crab's wanton destruction. The foundation suddenly caved in, causing the giant stalactite to impale the Crystal Crab, preventing it from hurting Steven and causing the crab to explode into dust, leaving only a gem in its destruction.

"That...was...a close...one," a emotionally wrecked Steven said with a sigh, before he realized what he had to do. "I need to get the gems out of here before something else happens!" Steven said as he wiped the tears from his eyes and quickly bubbled the crab's gem and sent it back to the burning room before picking up the four gems of his friends and quickly heading for the entrance. Though a new problem reared its ugly head.

"I'M STUCK IN A HOLE!" Steven shouted when he finally reached the entrance and realized he would have to climb out all by himself.

* * *

><p>After a grueling six hours of climbing and nightfall overtaking Beach City, an exhausted Steven finally made his way back to the beach house, before falling to his back, still carrying the gems of his friends. Steven slowly grabbed a pillow from the couch and placed the gems on it to see if there were any cracks that he would have to heal. After inspecting them for a few minutes under lamplight, he sighed with relief, having found no cracks on any of the gems.<p>

"Thank goodness for that!" Steven exclaimed with joy, before he looked at the gemstones sadly. "I wish you guys were here right now. I don't know what to do without any of you," Steven knew he wouldn't be receiving any answers out of them until they were fully regenerated, but just the fact he would have to wait without any of them didn't make it any better. "Just please don't take two weeks this time…"

As much as he wanted them to heal right away, Steven knew he couldn't rush them. All he could do about it was be patient and wait. Steven looked at the clock to see it was far past ten at night and that he should get some sleep. The young gem grabbed the pillow with the gems and took it to bed with him, intent on keeping them safe with him.

"Good night, you guys. See you in the morning," Steven bid them a good night, as he fall asleep. Little did he realize that something astonishing was about to happen, as all four gems started to glow dimly in the moonlight.

* * *

><p>Beep… Beep… Beep...<p>

Steven woke to the sound of his alarm clock going off and slowly, but sleepily, he started to stir up, eventually managing to crawl off his bed and attempting several times to find the off button without opening his eyes. Finally, he managed to hit the button, deactivating at last.

"Ugh… I'm so sore…" Steven whined as he felt all of his muscles ache from last night's six hour climb out of the hole in the beach. "But at least you guys are safe and…" Steven trailed when he turned and saw that none of the gems were on the pillow. Steven searched his entire room, turning it inside out but finding nothing. Of course to Steven this could only mean one thing.

"Wow you guys must of healed fast!" Steven, ever the optimist, quickly ran downstairs to find the gems. But when he made it down, he saw no trace that anyone had been in the house at all. No Garnet, no Amethyst, no Pearl, no anybody. "GUYS?! HELLO!?" Steven shouted as loud as he could, making sure that someone would hear him. But after a few seconds, it was clear that he was still all by himself.

"They must be out on a mission or something. Though they would have left a note or something…" Steven trailed off when he took a look at his palms and saw something he wasn't expecting at all: Garnet's gems now stuck in his hands.

"H-How did they get in there?!" Steven shouted, as he tried and failed to get them out of his hands; the gems refusing to budge. Steven began to panic as he thought of something. He quickly ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. Upon closer look, he saw that not only was Pearl's gem on his forehead, but he saw Amethyst's gem was now on his chest. "This has to be a dream…Yeah, that's right. It has to be a very bad dream! Oh, I know!" Steven ran towards the wall before smashing the back of his head against the wall. While he succeeded in giving himself a huge headache, looking into the mirror showed that he accomplished nothing else besides ruling out the dream explanation. All of this was enough to freak Steven out of rational thought, as he ran out of the bathroom in utter fear.

"No… No. No! NO! NOOOOO! **NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**" Steven shouted as he ran in circles in a confusion-induced frenzy. "AHH! AHH! AHH! AHH! AHH! AHH!"

**To be continued…**

* * *

><p><strong>AN Before anyone asked, this is just a pilot chapter. I'm still working on Return From Limbo first as I'm nearing the end of that. This is simply to test the waters for this story so that I can determine what I want to do next. If you like this idea, let me know and I'll begin work on it after Return From Limbo. **

**Till Next Time: Sal out!**


	2. You Get the Couch

_**Ch. 2: You Get the Couch**_

It was high noon in Beach City and Connie was quite beat from yet another day practicing at the tennis court; her coach pushing her to do better than ever put a lot of strain on her body, but she was at least finished for the day. As she weakly got into her house, the first thing she did was make herself something to eat, take a quick shower and change into something more comfortable: a simple blue t-shirt and jeans. Once she managed to regain some energy after a few minutes of rest, one thing popped right into her mind.

'_Maybe I should drop by Steven's place this afternoon and see how he's doing. I'm sure he and the Gems don't mind.'_

Having made up her mind, Connie picked herself up and was about to head to the front door when unexpectedly, she heard the phone started to ring. Puzzled by this, Connie went to the kitchen and picked up the receiver to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"AHH! AHH! AHH!" Connie was probably one of the few people who could figure out who it was by just them screaming. On the other end was Steven, screaming bloody murder into the phone and startling Connie. His screaming nearly caused her to go almost deaf.

"Steven, calm down!" Connie worryingly shouted back, fighting Steven over who could out-shout the other. Fortunately for her, he complied to her demand, ceasing his screaming shortly afterwards. "Now, what is the problem?"

Connie could hear Steven on the other end of the line taking a deep breath, as she waited patiently for him to give her a simple explanation. Instead…

"IHAVEGEMSONMYBODYTHEIRSTUCKONMELIKEGLUEANDIDONTKNOWHOWTOREMOVETHEMANDI…" Steven spoke in a very frantic, incoherent gibberish that vaguely resembled a sentence, but it went by so fast that Connie couldn't even understand what he was trying to tell her, further confusing her.

"Steven, do you want me to come over?" Connie asked, concerned that Steven was having problems forming coherent sentence structure; almost as if she was questioning if he was still sane.

"YESNOMAYBEI-" Steven was so conflicted on what he was trying to say, that it alone was incomprehensible, prompting Connie to make the decision for Steven.

"Just stay put, Steven; I'll be right there," Connie instructed him, before she hung up the phone and quickly made her way to the beach house. Whatever is happening to Steven, she needed to find out what's going on and see if she can help him.

* * *

><p>Despite being exhausted from her sprint to the beach house, Connie was able to make it there in great time. She just hoped that Steven was still okay and had at least stayed put, just as she had told him; she was concerned for Steven's well being with his erratic actions over the phone; he was definitely not his happy self. She cautiously approached the front door and knocked on it.<p>

"Steven, are you-" Before Connie could finish, the door flew open, nearly hitting her, with Steven quickly grabbing her by the arm and pulling her inside, before quickly closing the door, causing her to shriek in surprise by the unexpected action. After finally getting her bearings together, Connie saw that Steven was now wearing a red headband and two black leather gloves.

"Steven, what's going on? Why were you shouting when you called me? And what's with the headband and gloves?

"...Promise me that you won't freak out on me," Steven eventually told Connie.

"Don't worry, Steven. Just be honest with me," Connie assured him with a warm smile.

Her smile was enough to calm Steven down a little, but not much. Tears could be seen in his eyes, as he prepared to explain.

"Me and the Gems were playing in the sand yesterday when another gem monster started shaking the ground," Steven began, a tone of sadness clearly coming from his voice.

"That would explain the tremors," Connie commented. "What did you and the Gems find down there?"

"...A giant gem crab," Steven answered, his voice still a bit shaky. Connie decided to move the conversation to the couch so Steven could sit.

"So where are the Gems? I haven't seen them since I got here," she noted.

"Th…They're not here anymore…" Steven quietly replied, as tears started running down his face; Connie gasped as she realized what that meant.

"You mean they're d-" She had to stop herself from saying it.

"They're not really gone, Connie," Steven corrected her, as he tried to fight back any more tears. "They can make new bodies when they lose their current ones."

Connie was relieved to hear that from Steven, but a new question came to mind.

"Where are the Gems then?"

"They're still around, but…" Steven paused suddenly, much to Connie's curiosity.

"But what, Steven?" she questioned Steven, when he suddenly stopped in the middle of his explanation.

Steven still hesitated, unsure how to explain what happened to their gems; it would have been awkward trying to tell Connie where they are now. So with one deep breath, he removed one of his gloves, as well as his headband and pulled down his shirt, revealing the gems that are now embedded on his body. Upon seeing them up close, Connie gasped in surprise by the shocking sight.

"Wow, Steven, you weren't kidding," a stunned Connie admitted, as Steven put his headband back on, along with his glove, as well as putting his shirt back into its position. Then a thought occurred to her. "How did this happened?"

"I don't know!" Steven exclaimed, as he rocketed up from the couch to panic once again. "I tried to remove them, but they're stuck to me like glue! What if I'm like this for the rest of my life?! What if Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl won't ever come back?! What if-"

Without warning, Steven felt something hard smacking in his face, ceasing Steven's panic and leaving a red mark in the process, snapping him back to reality, as he turned to Connie with a less despair in his face.

"Thank you; I needed that," Steven said in a very calm tone.

"It was nothing, Steven," Connie simply said. "Have you told anyone else about this?"

"I didn't," Steven answered "You're the only one I talked to so far. I haven't left the house since this morning. I'm worried how everyone in Beach City will react. I don't want everyone asking me about this…it was hard enough just talking to you about it," Steven said with his head down, as Connie walked up and put her hand on his back.

"I understand, Steven," Connie said, bringing a small smile to her friend's face. He looked like a mess from all the tears he's cried. An idea came to Connie about how Steven could get around without being seen. "Then why not use Lion? He can teleport you anywhere in a second," she reminded Steven.

"...Dang it!" Steven face palmed in annoyance, realizing the answer was right in front of him this whole time. He took a deep breath, turned to the front door and let out a big shout. "Lion!"

Almost as if he was waiting right outside, Lion, the pink oversized pet lion, burst through the window no more than two seconds later, shattering the window completely, as he calmly approached Steven and Connie in his usual stoic manner.

"Lion, who's going to pay for that?" Steven wondered as he pointed to the window, though he was only met by Lion just staring blankly back at him.

As much as he wanted an answer, Steven quickly shook his head, wanting to focus on the important task at hand. But first, he had something to show Lion.

"Lion, promise that you won't freak out," Steven then removed his glove and headband first, before lowering his shirt, revealing Lion his new gems. Lion, however, just licked Steven's face, prompting Steven to sigh with relief.

'I guess he's taking this well,' Steven thoughtfully concluded.

"Steven, we should probably tell your dad," Connie stated, prompting Steven to cringe a little. He didn't even what to guess how his dad would take it. "You know he'll want to know about this," Steven sighed, as he knew he couldn't argue against it.

"You're right," Steven replied, before he and Connie hopped onto Lion. "To It's-A-Wash, Lion!"

Lion nodded his head, understanding Steven's command, as he ran up to the window, "No, Lion, don't-!" But it was too late, as Lion quickly smashed it upon leaving the beach house, before creating a portal, entering it and disappearing with his passengers shortly afterwards.

* * *

><p>Today was a great day for Greg. Ever since summer had arrived to Beach City a few weeks back, there were lots of cars coming to It's-A-Wash from every state, which meant that he could make at least enough money to keep his business afloat, even if it was going to last for only three months. But until then, he just needed to get everything ready...if something sparkling hadn't caught his eyes.<p>

"What the-" was all Greg was able to say, as a portal suddenly formed out of nowhere, with Steven, Connie and Lion unexpectedly coming out of; the pink lion skidded on the pavement, before stopping right in front of a shocked Greg, just an inch away from one another, causing him to fall to the pavement on his back and chuckle rather nervously in response.

"Lion! Why didn't you do that indoors instead of breaking the window?! We could've gotten hurt!" Steven voiced in an exasperated tone, to which Lion responded by sitting down and putting Connie and Steven onto the hard asphalt below. Steven simply shook his head, before he and Connie spotted his dad on the ground.

"Hi dad!"

"Hello, Mr. Universe."

"...Hey there, kids," Greg eventually greeted back, picking himself up from the ground and noticed Steven's new look. "Why are you dressed up like that for, Steven? Are you planning on joining a rock band and going into the music biz like your old man?" Greg happily teased his son, though he looked at Steven and noticed that he was far from amused. "Hey I was just kidding, bucko!"

"It's...fine, dad. I'm just not in a good mood," Steven explained to his father, much to Greg's relief. "Dad, just promise you won't freak out for what I'm about to show you," he pleaded.

"Why would I freak out?" Greg asked, a bit worried what Steven was going to show him, but he put the feeling away to be supporting of his son. "Don't worry about it, Steven; after that shape shifting incident, I'm sure I can handle anything," he assured his son a smile.

"Shape shifting incident?" asked Connie, before looking at Steven with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, I almost got killed by cats that were trying to take over my body after I tried to shapeshift," Steven said in an unnerving calmness for such a topic.

"Wait, what?!" Connie was more shocked that Steven never told her about the story, much less that it actually happened. What bothered her the most was that Steven treated the incident like it was nothing. However, she shook her head and decided to ask him about the incident for another time. "Steven, why don't you show him what happened to you," Connie suggested, quickly changing the subject.

Steven nodded his head and not wanting to waste any more time, he removed his headband, his glove and lowered his shirt, revealing the gems on his body to his dad. The moment Greg saw the gems on his son's body, he freaked out in a matter of seconds.

"AAH!" Greg screamed, losing his composure and almost fell down to the pavement. Instead, he felt something soft and furry behind his back, as he quickly looked around and saw that Lion had rushed behind him and broke his fall. Though his reaction did nothing for Steven's self esteem.

"Mr. Universe, are you alright?" Connie asked, approaching Greg with a worrisome look.

"I'm alright, Connie, but thanks," Greg replied, with Connie helping him up his feet, before turning his gaze at his son with a worrisome look. "Steven, how did this happened?!"

"Well, Amethyst and I were playing on the beach making a sand castle before a gem crab destroyed it so we went to defeat it but…but…" Steven's eyes started to water, causing Greg to quickly pull his son into a comforting hug just as Steven's tears started to run free. "The Gems…l-lost!"

"There, there, Steven. It's going to be alright," Greg softly whispered to his son. "Don't blame yourself for what happened to them. I'm sure they'll be fine. Maybe the Gems have attached themselves to you to keep you safe."

"Y-you really think so?" Steven asked hopefully, looking at his dad with a tear-stained face.

"I know so," Greg, of course, didn't know for sure, but it was the only conclusion he had for now. "It's probably their way of saying that they're still with you and will keep you safe, even if they're inside their gems."

Steven ceased his crying, wiping the few remaining tears from his face and a smile was formed on his face. It was the first good news he had heard for what felt like a long time.

"Um, guys?" Connie interjected. "I don't want to be a downer but…who's going to be watching Steven?" Both Greg and Steven instantly caught on, realizing that with the Gems gone, Steven was now living alone.

"Looks like I'll move into the beach house and look after Steven until the Gems are back. After all, he can't be all by himself at the beach house," Greg spoke up. Steven's eyes perked up into stars. It was so rare for Steven to spend a lot time with his dad and this was now the perfect time for that.

"As you always say, dad…" Steven began. "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs!" Steven then smile proudly upon finish his dad's favorite phrase, as Greg sheepishly rubbed his head, while Connie and Lion looked at them with confusion.

* * *

><p>Steven, Greg, and Connie were able to head back to the beach house in a few short seconds, courtesy of Lion's teleportation portal ability and fortunately for Greg, this beats traffic by a long shot. After exiting his van, Greg followed his son to the beach house, though as soon as he entered, he noticed two broken shards of glass laying on the floor.<p>

"Steven, who's going to pay for this?" asked Greg.

"We...don't have any money around here," Steven admitted to his dad, before he let out a nervous laugh. Greg then stared at his son for a few seconds before realizing the obvious.

"Looks like I have to pay for this then," Greg simply said with a sad sigh. He could hear his wallet crying in his back pocket. "Guess I'll go unpack."

"How about if I help you, Mr. Universe?" Connie asked.

"Actually, that would be great. Thanks, Connie," Greg expressed his gratitude to her, before he and Connie head to unpack a few things from the van. While the two went out to unload the van, Steven sat on the floor right next to Lion, also laying on the floor and licking his paw.

"I don't know what's going to happen from now on," Steven confided to Lion. "With the Gems gone, I need all the help I can. What do you think I should do, Lion?"

Lion looked at Steven and simply let out a soft growl at Steven, before licking his paw some more.

"You're right, Lion. I shouldn't worry about that for now," Steven thanked him, before getting himself up off the floor and out to the front door. "Anyway, I should help my dad moved his things in here."

Over the course of an hour, Steven, Greg and Connie unpacked the van and moved its contents right into the beach house; some were easy to carry in, while a few needed a bit more muscle to move them. Eventually, the trio were able to get everything out of Greg's van, just as night was starting to set in Beach City.

"Looks like everything is in place," Greg commented, before turning his gaze to the kids. "Thanks for the help. Right now, I need to go back to the car wash."

Greg then head right outside and into his van, before driving back to his workplace, leaving just Steven, Connie and Lion alone in the beach house.

"Thanks for sticking around, Connie; I really needed that," Steven said to Connie.

"No problem, Steven. If you need to tell me anything, don't hesitate to give me a call," said Connie, as Steven nodded his head in response.

"I appreciate that Connie, though with Lion and Dad around, at least I won't feel alone around here," Steven said as he pet Lion's mane.

"Good to see you smiling again. Anyway, I have to go now. Bye, Steven," Connie said, as she left for home. As Steven waved his goodbyes to her, a thought suddenly came to his mind, much to his concern.

'_Who's going to protect the Earth now?'_

**To be continued…**

* * *

><p><strong>AN:Yes I know what I said but I've decided to run both this and Return From Limbo at the same time. I feel really good about this story and Return From Limbo is coming along smoothly for those wondering.**

**Now I didn't get much of a reaction for this but it was enough that I think I should continue it. Even if only two people voiced their opinions.**

**Till next time, Sal out!**


	3. The New Guardian Named Steven

_**Ch. 3: The New Guardian Named Steven**_

Beep… Beep… Beep...

A frustratingly tired Steven awoke to the sound of his loud and obnoxious clock; with all the questions running through his mind, he found it hard to get any sleep. Ever since the Crystal Gems were taken out of the picture, the realization of who was left started to pound Steven's head like a sledgehammer; he was now the only Crystal Gem who had a chance of protecting Beach City, and by extension the Earth, from complete and utter destruction. That thought alone could keep anyone awake with fear, let alone a child such as Steven.

'_How am I going to protect Earth all by myself?! I don't know if I can do this every day of my life! I just want to have fun!'_

As much as Steven wished for an answer to come to him, he knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. All he could do was at least try to start his day off on a good start, considering his stomach began to growl at him for food. Steven got out of bed and walked to the fridge in the kitchen; On his way there, Steven noticed that Greg was absent, meaning he had already left for work, leaving Steven all by himself. The feeling of loneliness started to creep up on Steven but it was forced away but the feeling of hunger. He opened the fridge with hungry eyes, only to see the unthinkable. He screamed in despair at the sight before him.

"WE'RE OUT OF FOOD!"

* * *

><p>Dismayed that there was no more food at the house, Steven, without any options left, headed to the Big Donut for a quick bite, but not before he putting on his headband and black leather gloves. The last thing he wanted was Sadie and Lars to be weirded out by his new gems and it would have been completely awkward to explain why they were on him.<p>

"It might not be a very balanced breakfast, but it's better than nothing," he remarked with a smile, before he went inside the Big Donut to get his favorite donut. The smell of warm donuts filled the air and caused Steven's stomach to growl even louder than before.

"Hey Steven, how's…" Sadie trailed off when she saw Steven's headband and gloves. "Whoa! What's with the new look?"

"Are you trying to join a rock band or something?" asked Lars, as he arched an eyebrow. Steven was starting to regret the look as everyone continued to make the same exact joke about it.

"I just...wanted to wear something different for a change," Steven explained to them.

"...If you say so then, Steven," Sadie, as well as Lars, decided to accept Steven's explanation for now as it wasn't terribly important to her.

'_That was a close one,' _Steven thought, before he decided to focus on getting his favorite donut. "I'll have the-"

"Is that...an octopus floating in the sky?" Sadie suddenly asked, interrupting Steven's order, as she and Lars stared outside, prompting Steven to turn to their direction; much to his dismay, there really was an octopus floating in the sky, staring at the frightened beachgoers and shooting what appeared to be spikes right at them, as they began to flee for their lives.

'No, not now! 'I haven't even finish my order!' a dismay Steven thought, but realized that this was not the time to mope around. He turned his attention outside and began to shout as loud as he can. "Lion! I need your help!"

In a matter of seconds, Lion burst through the window, completely shattering it and skid right in front of Steven, as well as a frightened Sadie and Lars.

"S-Steven! Is that a lion?!" Sadie fearfully asked.

"Don't let it get it close to me!" Lars pleaded for his life.

"Maybe I should have gone outside first…" Steven said aloud as he looked at the path of destruction that Lion just left. "Sorry about that, you guys, but no time to explain," Steven simply said, as he hopped onto Lion and summoned his shield. "Onward, Lion!"

Lion nodded his head and let out a roar, as he and Steven rushed outside and leaped backed out, shattering another window, as the two headed for the beach, with Sadie and Lars calming down a bit once Lion was out of their sight.

"T-Thank goodness that's over," Lars stated.

"I can't say the same thing with the windows," Sadie pointed out, shaking her head in dismay, with Lars face palming upon this realization.

"Great! Even his pet destroys everything!"

* * *

><p>The beach was suppose to be a place where anyone could have a good time, from surfing the waves to checking out all the beach babes. Instead, a gem octopus suddenly rose out of the see, with yellow skin and yellow crystals pointing out from the end of each tentacle, all as long as the body, with spikes protruding out of its head, vaguely resembling a crown, hovering above the sky and staring at the crowd with its menacing orange eye, before it started to shoot out spikes from its tentacles, forcing every beachgoer to flee for their lives, too frightened to notice a certain young boy and his pet pink lion passing by them.<p>

"Look Lion, there it is! It's a Gemtopus!" Steven called out and pointed his finger at the Gemtopus, as it continued to attack every living thing on the beach. Steven aimed his shield at the gem octopus, steady his aim, before chucking his shield with one mighty throw, hitting the back of its head, as the Gemtopus turned around and finally saw Steven and Lion.

"Hey One-Eye! That's for interrupting my order!" Steven shouted.

The Gemtopus responded to Steven's yelling by immediately shooting rows of spikes at him and Lion, the former blocking with his bubble, protecting them from the raining spikes and sending them back, forcing the Gemtopus to back off and dodge. With Lion's speed evading one rounds of projectiles after another, they closed the distance that the Gemtopus had to cease shooting its spikes and to attack them with its tentacles.

"Here goes nothing!" Steven exclaimed, summoning his shield once more, before he threw it at the Gemtopus. But as soon as it made a direct hit, however, it bounced off the monster, leaving only a single, insignificant scratch behind.

"Dang it!" Steven cursed out loud, just as the Gemtopus began to shoot its spikes once again.

Lion, though, unleashed his sonic blast at the Gemtopus, destroying the spikes and one of its tentacles, causing the Gemtopus to cringe in pain. Lion used the same method a few times at the Gemtopus, creating more pain for it as it continued to lose its limbs, until it proved too much for the Gemtopus to handle, forcing it into a retreat.

"Thanks for the help, Lion," Steven thanked Lion, who simply growl back in response. But then, a sudden realization came to Steven. "Aw man, you did most of the work and I barely did anything at all."

Saddened by this fact, Steven and Lion head back home; his stomach still growled for food, but he wasn't in the mood for anything to eat anymore.

* * *

><p>It was noon by the time Steven and Lion came back home, as Lion easily let Steven down so he could go inside. Steven was still down from his fight against the Gemtopis, as his mind continued to produce negative thoughts about himself.<p>

'_How am I suppose to protect the Earth when I can't even take down one monster? There's no way I can't be a Crystal Gem at this rate,' _Steven thought as depression began to set in, before he turned his attention to Lion.

"Thanks for not breaking the windows this time, Lion," Steven said as he pet the mane of his friend, causing a slight purr out of the beast, as they head up to the beach house and went in, only to be confronted by his dad.

"Hey Steven," Greg greeted his son with a tone of annoyance.

"Hey dad," Steven greeted back, before he noticed that his dad was quite peeved. "What's wrong?"

"I got a call from the Big Donut…" Greg began his explanation. "They told me Lion destroyed two windows at the store and I have to pay for the damage he caused!" Greg then pointed his finger at Lion, who laid on the floor and licking his paw, seemingly uninterested in their conversation. "Is this going to be a regular thing with him? I don't have the money to keep paying for this, Steven," Greg's words made Steven feel even more depressed than he ever was before. It sounded like his dad was telling him that if this keeps up, he couldn't keep Lion anymore; Steven couldn't handle losing another friend.

"I'm sorry dad. I swear, Lion never meant to do that on purpose," Steven insisted with a sad tone, unable to look his dad in the eye. "He was just coming to help me out," The sadness in Steven's voice caused Greg's demeanor to soften up, as he saw how miserable his son was.

"Hey buddy; I didn't mean to make you upset," Greg asked, concerned for his son. "I just don't want Lion breaking anymore windows,"

"That's not it," Steven said as took a deep breath and explained the event to his dad, "Lion and I were facing this floating gem octopus on the beach today and it attacked us with spikes and tentacles. I tried using my shield, but it did nothing; Lion did most of the work and scared it away. How am I suppose to protect the Earth if I can't even land one hit that even looks like it did anything?"

Once Steven finished his story, Greg continued to stare at his son with sympathy. If there was a time his son needed some words of encouragement, this would be it.

"Steven…" Greg began. "I'm sorry that it didn't turned out the way you wanted. Sure, your first fight was a complete bonker but you'll eventually get there. You're just going to have to be stronger without the Gems' guidance."

The moment Greg mentioned the Crystal Gems, Steven suddenly burst into tears, as Greg was taken aback by his son crying.

"Steven, wait! I didn't mean it like that!" Greg pleaded to his son.

Steven, however, continued to cry, burying his face into his arm, as he rushed to his room and crashed into his pillow face first, as Greg looked down on the floor at his miserable attempt at cheering up his son.

"Me and my big mouth," he sadly said to himself.

* * *

><p>A few more minutes of crying later, Steven finally calmed himself down, wiping off the few remaining tears from his face. He looked around the beach house and noticed that Lion was the only one here, sleeping on the floor, before he looked outside and saw that his dad was busy washing his van with a disappointing look on his face.<p>

"I know dad meant well, but I still miss Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl," said Steven, his voice still shaky from crying, before an idea came to him. "I wonder if Connie wants to hang out for a bit."

Having made up his mind, Steven pulled out his cell phone and dialed up Connie's phone number, as he waited patiently for her response, before he heard the sound of the phone being picked up a few seconds later.

"Hello?" Steven was relieved when he heard Connie's voice on the other end.

"Hey Connie, it's me," Connie could hear the suffering in Steven's voice.

"Hey Steven, are you okay?" she asked, worried for her friend.

"Not really," Steven admitted. "My day isn't going so well. I tried to have breakfast here, but I didn't find any food, so I went to the Big Donut for some donuts. But then this floating gem octopus showed up out of nowhere at the beach and I had no choice but to face it. I got to the beach with Lion, but my shield barely did anything to it, while Lion scared it away. How am I suppose to protect the Earth if I can't even defeat anything? I feel so worthless!"

"Steven, you're not worthless," Connie stated otherwise in a firm voice, hoping to rouse Steven's spirit. "You've always managed to save the Earth one way or another. You're brave, selfless, unbelievably friendly, and righteous."

"Heh heh, righteous," Steven chuckled at the last part, with a noticeable blush appearing on his face. "Am I really all of that, Connie?" Steven asked, now feeling a bit bashful.

"Of course!" she happily exclaimed. "How else would you manage to convince Lapis to return the ocean back to Earth?"

"Yeah...I guess I really am all of that," Steven happily accepted this, feeling a bit better now. "Thanks, Connie. I appreciate that."

"No problem," Connie insisted. "So what else did you want to talk about or are you just looking for me to sing more praise?" Connie asked jokingly, causing Steven to chuckle a bit more.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out," Steven suggested, his voice slightly more stable.

"Absolutely! A Dogcopter game just came out and I was thinking we could play together!" Connie exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Wow! They made a Dogcopter game?!" Steven gasped, surprised to hear this.

"Steven, they'll make a game about anything if they think it'll make money," Connie explained with a giggle. "I'll be right over with it!"

"Alright!" Steven agreed, before they both hung up. Steven was hyped to play the Dogcopter game with his best friend in the world.

* * *

><p>Just as she had promised, Connie arrived at the beach house with the Dogcopter game that she planned for her and Steven to check out, as Steven happily welcome her in and both went to play the game on his video game system. As soon as the video game started, they began to play for many an hour; the sun had started to go down, but as far as Steven was concerned, he was actually having a good time since this morning, more so with Connie around.<p>

"Wow! This game is so much fun!" Steven shouted with joy. "Dogcopter plays exactly like the character!"

"It really is," Connie agreed. "It's rare to have these types of games around these days."

"Yeah it is; a movie licensed game that's actually good! I'm really glad you showed me this game!" Steven commented to Connie with a wide smile. "It's what I needed after what happened this morning."

"Don't mention it, Steven. I'm glad you like it," Connie returned with an equally wide smile of her own.

"Hey Connie?" Steven asked, as a blush started to come to his face.

"Yeah?" Connie responded.

"Thanks for spending time with me," Steven expressed his gratitude, thankful to have a friend like her. "It helps take my mind off after what happened."

"I think I should be thanking you," Connie said, now with a blush on her face.

"For what?" asked a curious Steven.

"For being my best friend," Connie admitted, as she started to lean forward towards Steven.

But just then, a horrible roar screeched out of nowhere, forcing Steven and Connie to drop what they were doing and covered their ears to tune the terrible noise out.

"Steven, what is that?!" Connie shouted.

"I don't know, but I think I have a bad feeling about this!" Steven yelled, as he and Connie turned to the window and saw…

"Oh no! It's back!" Steven shouted in dismay, as he saw the Gemtopus hovering in the sky.

"Is that the gem octopus you were talking about?" asked a fearful Connie.

"It is!" Steven admitted. "Connie, find my dad and make sure you find a safe spot. Lion and I will handle this."

Connie nodded her head, understanding Steven's demands, as she head out of the beach house to locate Greg, with Steven hopping on Lion and both head out to face the Gemtopus once more.

"Are you back for round 2?" Steven taunted the Gemtopus.

The Gemtopus responded by shooting spikes at them, but at a much rapid pace than their last confrontation; Steven barely summoned his shield on time, blocking the incoming spikes, combined with Lion's speed to outmaneuver them with great accuracy, before Lion positioned himself in front of the Gemtopus, ready to unleash his sonic blast.

"Alright, Lion! Go for it!"

But before Lion can use his sonic blast, without warning, one of the Gemtopus's tentacles whipped him in a flash, sending both flying; Lion managed to pick himself up from the sand, picked up Steven with his teeth and avoided the second Gemtopus' attack in the nick of time, as Greg and Connie watched from the sidelines, having taken cover from a huge rock.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Steven noted, getting back on Lion's back, as they continued to avoid the tentacles.

Lion tried to find a good spot to use his sonic blast, but the Gemtopus prevented him from doing so, forcing him to continue to avoid its tentacles as fast as he can, eventually going underneath the Gemtopus, preparing to unleash his sonic blast once again. But the Gemtopus, having seemingly anticipated this, quickly whipped Lion, knocking him and Steven from afar, to Connie and Greg's horror.

"Steven!" They shouted, their shouting earning the Gemtopus' attention and floated right towards them. Steven barely got up, just in time to see the Gemtopus heading to Connie and Greg.

"No!" Steven shouted. Despite the early injuries he suffered, Steven managed to run directly at the Gemtopus, ignoring the strain on his body. He can't let that monster get to them; not on his watch.

"You... leave them... **ALONE**!" Steven yelled, ready to summon his shield.

But then, something amazing happened; instead of his shield, in his hand was none other than Pearl's spear, throwing it out of instinct. After it left his hand, it had dawned on Steven what he just pulled off.

"H-How did I do that?" Steven asked himself, as the spear buried deep itself in the Gemtopus's eye, causing it to squeal in pain, before disappearing into a cloud of dust, leaving a yellow gem behind, as it landed on the soft sands, with everyone approaching it.

"That was a close one, Steven," Greg remarked, as he watched his son bubbled the gem that was the Gemtopus and send it back to the temple.

"Yeah, I guess that was amazing," Steven admitted.

"But Steven, how did you managed to summon Pearl's spear?" asked a stunned Connie.

"I...I really don't know," Steven confessed, looking at Connie with uncertainty. He had no idea on how he actually summoned Pearl's spear and there was only one thing that was racing in his mind.

'_Did Pearl lend me her spear?'_

**To be continued…**

* * *

><p><strong>AN Steven, you're too OP now. How is it fair when you get all the cool stuff and the other guys get nothing but pain and misery?... Well I guess you get a little of that too but I digress. **

**I know it's a bit early to be cranking these out but you have no idea how much easier it is to write these compared to Limbo's. 3000 words is a lot better than 6000. That also means that this is a lot easier to proofread and get out.**

**I hope to hear what you guys have to say about this chapter. Constructive criticism and suggestions will be noted and I do read and appreciate every review.**

**Till next time, Sal out!**


	4. Adapt or Perish

_**Ch. 4: Adapt or Perish**_

After defeating the Gemtopus in one of the most bizarre events that they could ever think of, Steven, with Connie, Greg and Lion all sitting on the couch as his audience, looked on as Steven tested out just how much power he's been given.

"Now let's see if I can do it again," Steven said, as he closed his eyes to concentrate, just praying that what he did before wasn't a stroke of luck.

"Steven, are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked a worried Greg.

"I'm not so sure about it myself," Steven admitted, his eyes still closed and trying hard to concentrate. Eventually, this proved too much for his head to handle, forcing him to stop concentrating. "Aw man! It didn't work!"

"Maybe you should think about how the Gems exactly summoned their weapons," Connie suggest. "There might be some clue to summoning them."

"Um…they never really explained it very well to me," Steven replied nervously, remembering Garnet's was by far the most confusing; it nearly gave him a headache. Amethyst and Pearl's contradicted each other and he still doesn't fully understand what exactly allowed him to summon his shield beyond "just doing it". "Darn it! I wish I had paid a lot more attention…or at least these came with an instruction manual!" Steven shouted in frustration, raising both arms above his head.

But then, the gem on his forehead suddenly glow, astonishing everyone in the room, as a spear was summoned out of it and rested itself onto Steven's hand, who continued to stare at it in shock.

"Well...I don't remember Pearl saying getting frustrated summoned it," Steven remarked, looking at the spear in his hand, towering over him. "But I'm not going to question it that much."

"Maybe the gemstone didn't react by anger, but by your action," Connie theorized. "Try moving your hand on your chest and see if you summon another weapon from it. Do it like Amethyst does."

Steven nodded his head, putting his hand on the gemstone embedded on his chest. Before they knew it, Steven managed to pull out a whip from the chest stone, accidentally cutting the coffee table in half with it.

"Whoops," Steven muttered, laughing nervously by his action, before he looked back at the whip. "Maybe summoning their weapons won't be as hard as I thought. In fact…"

Without any hesitation, Steven punched both of his knuckles together and almost immediately, two gauntlets wrapped around his arms, both surprising and pleasing him all at once.

"Cool!" Steven exclaimed, before the weight of the gauntlets forced him to fall face first. "I need to work on that later."

"Sorry to interrupt the moment, but what happened to Pearl's spear?" Greg asked, as Steven picked himself up, looked around and noticed that the spear was nowhere to be found. Not only that, Amethyst's whip was also missing.

'I wonder,' Steven thought, before he dismissed the gauntlets and re-summoned the spear from his head once more, resting on his palm and re-summoned his whip from his chest as well. "Looks like I can only carry two weapons at a time," Steven summoned his shield and saw the spear vanishing from his hand, confirming his hunch. "I'll take that as a yes."

"At least you got some added protection," Greg commented, just glad to see that Steven wasn't moping anymore. "I bet you won't feel like you can't take down those monsters now."

"You're right, dad! Think of the combinations I could come up with!" Steven yelled with excitement. He could already imagine what he can do with them.

"Whoa, Steven! Don't get yourself carried away!" Connie suddenly spoke with concern, snapping him back to reality. "You don't want to overdo it if you're facing another monster."

"She's got a point," Greg agreed. "Just be safe out there and use them responsibly."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Steven assured them, understanding their concern. Then a thought occurred to Greg.

"But there's something I still don't get…" he began. "Even though you hadn't paid any attention to what Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl said, you can still summoned their weapons like it was nothing."

"I'm surprised I can do it either, but maybe the Gems are helping me out, despite being in their gemstones," Steven concluded.

"I guess that would make sense," Connie and Greg decided to just accept this for the moment, before the former noticed that it was almost dinner time. "Look at the time, Steven. I have to get home. I'll see you next time."

"Bye Connie," Steven smiled with a wave to his friend.

After they bid each other a goodbye, Connie strolled out of the beach house as she headed back home, leaving just Steven, Greg and Lion all by themselves.

"Today was surprising in more than one way, right, Steven?" Greg happily joked, but noticed that his son suddenly downed now. "What's the matter? I thought you would be happy after summoning your new weapons."

"It's not that," Steven explained. "It's just that I only could summon their weapons because I couldn't help them. I don't want to be rewarded for being so weak and helpless."

"Steven…" Greg attempted to console his son. "Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure you would have done what you can to save them, but some situations are beyond our control."

"That still doesn't make me feel better! That only makes me feel more useless!" Steven stated otherwise, prompting Greg to think much harder. Consoling him didn't do much, but maybe there is another way to cheer his son up.

"How about if you come and help me at my work? A lot of cars are probably going to drop by and I could use more than one set of hands," Greg suggested. "Think of it as a bonding experience."

"...Alright, I guess I'll help," Steven eventually agreed, despite his hesitation about the idea. He didn't have much to do around the house, so getting some fresh air might help him a little; at least, he hope it would.

* * *

><p>Ecstatic to spend some quality time with his son, Greg took Steven to his work and fortunately for him, they arrived just in time, as there were cars lining up in need of a good wash, from the front to all the way in the back. Both father and son got out of the van and began to wash every car one by one, scrubbing off the dirt and grime from each vehicle.<p>

"You see, Steven…" an optimistic Greg started his explanation, washing the dirt off from the windshield. "Every summer, I would have at least a dozen cars popping up here a day and I have to get through every nook and cranny just to get…are you doodling on the asphalt?" Greg stopped what he was doing when he saw that Steven was indeed doodling on the asphalt with a pointy rock.

"Huh?" Steven stopped what he was doing and looked up to his dad. "Oh, yeah, um, sure. Something about three months and dirt."

"...Alright then," Greg simply said, before he resumed where he left off. "As I was saying, I have to get through every nook and cranny just to get rid of every piece of dirt. I don't make a lot of money, but I make just enough to keep this business afloat and...are you even listening?" Greg stopped once more and looked at Steven, who was still drawing on the asphalt with boredom on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening, dad," Steven claimed; he wasn't even trying to fake it.

'_This isn't what I had hoped,' _Greg thought, ceasing his explanation and walked over to see what Steven was drawing. His heart sank, however, when he saw what was down there: it was a picture of Steven and the Gems hanging out together, fighting off some weird monster that looked like a pufferfish. 'It's worse than I thought; he just misses them so much,' Greg instinctively wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him into a hug, one Steven didn't hesitate to return to his dad.

"It's alright, Steven. I missed them too, but they wouldn't be happy if you're just moping around all the time," Greg consoled his son.

"I know, but I just can't get over it; I'm sorry for acting this way," Steven said to his dad.

"That's alright and I understand that, Steven, but if you didn't want to come here, you could have let me know. I would have understand," Greg insisted. "Now, I have an idea that I know will cheer you up, but first, let me finish cleaning up this last car."

Steven looked at his dad and simply nodded, as Greg went back to finish cleaning up the final car as fast he could, getting rid of what grime he could find. Once the car was clean and spotless, Greg got his payment for today and saw the driver taking off to his next destination, before approaching his son, who looked at his dad with curiosity.

"So what do you have in mind to cheer me up, dad?" asked Steven.

"That's simple, Steven…" Greg began. "We're going to have a fun time at the boardwalk, just the two of us! Eating cotton candy and riding every rides before our stomachs can't handle it anymore! Isn't that exciting?!"

Expecting his son to be very happy to go to the boardwalk, Greg noticed that Steven was rubbing the back of his head in a rather uncomfortable manner and his eyes darting back and forth in a rapid pace. Something was very wrong with this scene. He should have squeaked with excitement by now.

"Why the long face, Steven? I thought you would like it," said a confused Greg, prompting his son to stop what he was doing and, after hesitating for a while, took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"...Oh, about that…"

* * *

><p>"NO!" Mr. Smiley bluntly told Greg.<p>

"No? What do you mean no?!" Greg demanded an answer from Mr. Smiley. He couldn't believe what he was hearing out of Smiley's mouth.

"Do I have to repeat myself, Mr. Universe? No means no and that's final!" Mr. Smiley remained firm with his decision.

"That's totally unfair!" Greg protested. "My son is still a kid! He wouldn't even hurt a fly! You can't just robbed his rights to ride on every ride around on the boardwalk! At least explain what he did!"

"He destroyed the Tea Cup ride a few months back! He landed right on top of me while I was operating it and endangered everyone else on the boardwalk," Mr. Smiley explained, prompting a surprised Greg to turn his gaze at his son.

"That was you, Steven?!" Greg was still amazed how his son was involved in something like that. He was aware of the Tea Cup incident that took place, but never imagined that Steven was linked to it.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention about that," Steven sheepishly admitted. Greg continued to stare at his son, before turning his gaze back at Mr. Smiley.

"Mr. Smiley, I'm sorry that had to happen, I really am, but Steven probably never meant to do it on purpose. I'm sure he learned his lesson by now and it's not like he'll do it again. Can't you give him another chance?"

"The answer is still no," Mr. Smiley replied, with Greg sighing with disappointment. "I'm not going to take my chances, even if I am grateful that Steven and his buddies did return the ocean back to Beach City."

'There has to be a way to change his mind,' Greg thought, stroking his beard intently and trying to come up with something. 'What's it going to take to-'

Greg's thoughts were interrupted, however, by several screams from a distance, prompting him and his son to turn to the direction and saw several beachgoers fleeing for safety from what appeared to be...shark fins popping out of the sand?

'Aw great! Just what I needed and at a time like this!' Greg thought in dismay by the sight, while Steven, acting on his instincts, took a deep breath and shouted as loud as he can.

"Lion! I need your help!"

As if his prayers were answered, something sparkling was shining within the nearest stand; before long, a portal appeared out of nowhere, with Lion coming right out of it, destroying the entire stand and scaring a lot of people all at once. He then calmly approached Steven and allowed him to hop onto his back, riding off to the beach to face the latest threat, leaving Mr. Smiley and Greg behind.

"My stand!" Mr. Smiley shouted with horror by the destruction. His horror was then replaced by complete anger and focused his attention towards Greg, who can only sigh in response. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a check book.

"Will you take a check?"

* * *

><p>Steven and Lion arrived at the beach, now entirely deserted due to the absence of so many beachgoers that previously occupied the area. But the moment he arrived, he saw two shark fins popping out from the sands, both heading right towards him and Lion. Fortunately for Steven, Lion managed to outrun them, allowing him to summon Pearl's spear; he tried to jab the sharks underneath the sands, but it barely slowed them down. Likewise, when Lion managed to find a safe spot from a distance, he used his sonic blast at them, but the sharks simply evaded it like it was nothing by hiding underneath the sand.<p>

"Darn it! Stay still already, you dumb sharks!" Steven cursed back at them.

Apparently hearing his insult, both sand sharks leaped upwards in unison, giving Steven a closer look at them: they looked like any sharks in the ocean, except that their hides were dark yellow, their eyes more cat-like, with their fins on their back much longer and there was a gem embedded on their chest. Steven stared at them for a second before he realized what they was about to do next.

"Lion, move!" Steven ordered, as Lion quickly leaped to his left, barely avoiding their sharp teeth in time.

"That was a close one," said Steven. "How am I suppose to stop them if they're just going to keep swimming in the sand like that?!"

Steven didn't have time to find the answer, however, when one of the sand sharks unexpectedly leaped out of nowhere and knocked a surprised Steven down to the sand with its tail, before quickly swimming towards him with its opened jaws.

"I need a weapon here and fast! Any kind would do!" a frantic Steven spoke, before he randomly put his hand on his chest and summoned up Amethyst's whip, whipping the sand shark to the side just before it got close to him.

'_Thank goodness for that!' _Steven thought, sighing with relief, before he saw Lion getting assaulted by another sand shark. Lion tried to hit it back with his sonic blast, but the sand shark kept dodging it.

"Don't worry Lion! I'm coming!" Steven shouted and ran towards Lion as fast he could, eventually making his way to him, prompting the sand shark to go after Steven instead. "You leave him alone right now!" he declared, punching both of his knuckles, replacing Amethyst's whip with Garnet's gauntlets and bashed the sand shark in its face.

"Lion, are you alright?" Steven worriedly asked, as Lion simply let out a soft roar, much to his relief. "I'm glad you're not hurt. Come on, let's finish this!"

Steven hopped onto Lion and roam around the beach, looking for the sand sharks that had disappeared underneath the sands after Steven attacked them. At the same time, a thought occurred to him, mainly on summoning the Gems' own weapons.

"If I can swap them one at a time, can I do it much quicker?" Steven muttered.

Before he could find the answer to his question, the sand sharks suddenly popped right in front of him; without any hesitation, Steven quickly summoned Pearl's spear, slashing them both downward, as they tumbled onto the sands. Not wanting them to make another quick escape, Steven summoned Amethyst's whip. snaring one sand shark by its tail and slamming the other with it. Once they were completely dazed, Steven jumped off from Lion, summoning Garnet's gauntlets and directly punched them both, causing their bodies to turn to dust and leaving behind their brown gems in their place.

"At least they won't be terrorizing anyone at the beach anymore," Steven commented, bubbling both gems back to the temple. Then, he realized what he just did back there. "Hey! I took down them on my own and I didn't rely for help this time!"

Steven heard Lion roaring from behind, prompting him to rub his head sheepishly in response.

"But you did a good job as well, Lion. Glad you were here with me," Steven thanked Lion, petting his mane to show his appreciation. "Anyway, let's head back to the boardwalk."

Lion simply stared at Steven, before they head back to the boardwalk, the latter feeling much better now.

* * *

><p>It was night time by the time Steven and Lion arrived back at the boardwalk and the only person that was standing around was his dad, who looked quite peeved and began to approach them.<p>

"Steven…" he began. "Do you know how much I had to pay for the stand Lion destroyed? It was twice the amount than the windows that he destroyed from the Big Donut!"

"Sorry about that," Steven apologized, laughing sheepishly upon hearing this. "He'll try to be careful from now on, won't you Lion," he finished with a smile, as Lion just yawned.

"Steven, are you...smiling?" Greg asked, noticing the sudden change in his son's demeanor and personality.

"You bet I am!" Steven proudly replied. "I manage to take down two monsters in the beach on my own! I didn't need Lion to backpack me through the whole fight this time!"

Greg continued to look at his son, surprised that Steven had taken down two monsters and made it back out on his own. At the same time, however, he couldn't help but be proud of his son. He was glad that Steven's behavior improved and wasn't moping around like he had been for the last few days. It was something he wanted to see all day long.

"I'm glad to see you're happy again," Greg said to his son. "Anyway, let's head back home and call it a day."

"You got it!" Steven happily said, hopping onto Lion, as they and Greg head back to the beach house, though not before he looked up to the sky.

'_I hope you guys get back real soon. I don't know if I'll have enough money to keep paying off the destruction Lion will keep causing at this rate!'_


	5. Don't Call it a Date

_**Ch. 5: Don't Call it a Date**_

'_What's taking so long?' _Steven thought, as he continued to stare at the ceiling from the couch.

It had been a month since Steven found himself as the sole defender of Earth and he was starting to get worried. The Gems, not even the carefree Amethyst, still hadn't regenerated and their gems were still stuck onto his body. He spent the last few days wondering if they would ever come back. The only one he can count on to brighten his day was Connie; Lion was nice to have around, but it always felt like a conversation with a rock that shoot sonic booms and his dad, Greg, was a hit or miss, whether he would cheer him up or make him feel worse.

Although Steven worried about the Gems, he kept his worries about them never coming back to himself, knowing full well that anyone he knew would just say the same thing: "They'll be back soon." How long is soon? Another day? A week? A month? A year?

Steven sat on the couch, alone in only his swimming trunks and his sandals, his body sweating up like a flood. It was a blisteringly hot summer day and he was spending it waiting for a friend. Lion was off doing...Lion things. If he needed to show Steven something that they needed to fix somewhere in the world, he would come to him right away. Greg was out at the car wash, working of course, dealing with a new rush of beach tourists. Everyone else he knew were either busy doing something important or Steven just couldn't find them at all, except for one and that was Connie. He and Connie were planning on going swimming together and Steven was busy waiting for his friend to come over, all the while remaining patient. Finally, he heard a knocking on the door, before it opened to reveal Connie, carrying a beach umbrella and a towel. She was also in a cyan blue one-piece swimsuit with a t-shirt over it.

"Sorry I took so long," Connie apologized, as Steven walked over with a smile, "I had to sneak out, since my dad doesn't want me swimming without someone he trusts watching us."

"Why don't you want me meeting your dad so badly?" Steven inquired.

"...Let's just say he was another reason I didn't have a lot of friends," Connie remarked with a hint of anger in her voice. "It might be too much to ask, but do you know any...private spots for us to swim?"

"P-Private?" Steven asked, a bit uneasy about the request. Sure he hung out with Connie alone plenty of times, but this made him feel different than before. "Why?"

"I-It's, I mean, n-no reason, well I g-guess there is a reason," Connie struggled to find the right words. "I don't want my dad to just drive by and see us and make a scene. Please, Steven?"

Connie pleaded with begging eyes, becoming bigger with each second. Steven did his best to look the other way, but there was no point in resisting it and simply sighed in response, relenting to her demands. She was too cute whenever she did that.

"Well...there is this one place..." Steven looked at the warp pad wearily. "But I'm not sure if it's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Man-eating fish?" Steven sheepishly replied, hoping it wouldn't ruin Connie's day.

"...Is that all?" Connie asked once more, showing an air of confidence. Steven and Lion had been dealing with much worse problems than a few fish that she was sure the two would be fine. Not to mention Steven was letting her use the Rose Sword whenever she wanted to practice with it. Though Steven was a bit hesitant to take her. Not because it was too dangerous or because he didn't like spending time with her; far from it in fact. It's just the thought of spending time alone with her on a beach in the middle of nowhere with the nearest intelligent life isn't for several hundred miles wasn't lost on him. He wasn't that oblivious to things like that.

"It used to be inhabited by an invisible Gem monster, but it's not there anymore," Steven admitted, much to Connie's surprise. However, she decided to ask about it another time.

"Fair enough then," she simply accepted Steven's words.

"Are you sure you still wanted to go there?"

"I'm positive, Steven, so long as my parents aren't able to find us until we come back," Connie reaffirmed her decision. Well there goes dissuading her from going there.

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Steven nodded his head. "It's in the middle of the Caribbean so I doubt anyone we know will find us," he explained to Connie's delight. With that, he took her by the hand to the warp pad, getting a light blush out of her and within seconds, the pair disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

><p>Just as suddenly as they had disappeared from the beach house, Steven and Connie emerged in another warp pad, finding themselves in an exotic and beautiful tropical jungle, covered by large, tall lush trees and plants alike, a beach from where the duo could see from a distance, covered in smooth white sands and crystal clear oceans, along with the sound of a waterfall close by. The moment Connie laid eyes on the scenery, she was instantly awestruck by her new surroundings.<p>

"Steven…" she began, her eyes still filled with mesmerization. "This...is...beautiful! I never thought such a place would have ever existed."

"Yeah, that's what I thought as well," Steven admitted, being somewhat relaxed. "Though what happened here isn't very… pleasant."

"Then we'll have to fix that. I didn't know why you wouldn't want to take me here in the first place," said Connie. "This is wonderful!"

"When you put it that way, I guess it's great," Steven agreed, relaxing himself a little. "Now how about we have some fun while we're at it?"

"My thoughts exactly."

With those words spoken, Steven and Connie headed towards the beach, intending to have as much fun as they could for as long as the sun was up.

* * *

><p>Steven and Connie didn't know how long they were on the island, but they couldn't care less about time, especially when they have each other for company; for the most part, they spend most of it on building sand castles, playing frisbee with one another and swimming in the ocean. Aside from a close encounter with the island's strange fishes, their day on the island proved to be a fun one, but for Steven, it was the first time that he ever felt this happy in a long time. He even managed to get a decent tan going during all the fun.<p>

"Steven...you're smiling," Connie was a bit shocked to see a smile on her friend's face after everything that's happened, before she smiled back in return. "You're really smiling."

"Looks like I am," Steven acknowledged Connie's claim, with a light blush on his face. "I haven't been this happy since Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl went back into their gems. Still, I wish I could see them again."

"I'm sure they'll come back eventually," Connie did her best to assure him, before she sighed and looked down to the ground.

"Connie, what's wrong?" Steven asked, perplexed by her sudden change in demeanor.

"Steven, remember when I said I snuck out of my house?"

"Yeah, you said it was because your dad didn't want us swimming without someone watching us," Steven responded.

"I wasn't entirely honest. I snuck out of my house because I got into an argument with my parents last night," Connie admitted.

"What happened?" Steven asked, stunned by his friend's admission.

"Mom and dad were asking what I have been doing for the last month…" she began. "I told them that I was hanging with you and they wanted me to stop. We began arguing back and forth and…" Connie trailed off, her voice starting to get shaky and she could feel tears coming out from her eyes.

"It's alright, Connie. You don't have to finish," said Steven as he put a hand on her shoulder, prompting Connie to take a deep breath and wiped the tears off of her face, before facing her friend.

"Thanks Steven, I really appreciate it, but it just seems so unfair. I made a friend for the first time and all of a sudden they wanted me to stop just like that?"

"Maybe they're just worried, Connie," Steven suggested. "Sure, it might not look like it, but deep down, they care about you and just wanted to make sure nothing bad happens to you."

"I still wish they could trust me and get to know you more," said an unconvinced Connie.

Steven opened his mouth, but couldn't find the right words to use. But before he could, he and Connie heard what sounded like rustlings from the bushes; after a few seconds, it suddenly stopped as it had happened.

"W-What was that?" asked a shakened Steven.

"I-I don't know," Connie nervously replied.

Suddenly, something burst out of the bushes, allowing a stunned Steven and Connie to get a full glimpse of the mysterious entity; in front of the duo was a shadow-like being that looked almost humanoid, save for its left eye, which was embedded with a gem. It didn't took Steven too long to realize what he and Connie were facing.

"Connie, take cover!" he ordered, with Connie nodding her head and headed for safety, as Steven summoned his shield, ready to face the threat. "You picked the wrong day to mess with me!"

Without any hesitation, Steven threw his shield right at the Shadow Gem; without warning, it split its body halfway, with the shield going through it, before reforming back to its original shape and quickly leaped right towards Steven, its claw stretched out for the attack. Undaunted, Steven summoned Garnet's gauntlet, barely blocking the Shadow Gem's attempt and tried to counter it with a barrage of punches. The Shadow Gem, however, kept forming one hole after another on its body, allowing Steven's fists to go right through them, before grabbing both arms and promptly threw Steven to a nearby tree, slumping back down to the sands in pain.

_'Darn it!' _Steven cursed, barely getting himself up from the sand, as he dismissed the gauntlets and summoned Pearl's spear in its place. But when he turned around to face the Shadow Gem once more, he noticed that it was nowhere to be found. "Where did it go?"

Unwilling to drop his guard down, Steven tightened his grip on Pearl's spear, cautiously looking around, hoping to make the first strike when the Shadow Gem gave its presence away. But just when it appeared to be silent…

"Steven, watch out!" Steven heard Connie's voice and turned to its direction, only to be met by a mysterious powder blown right into his face and soon, everything suddenly turned dark.

* * *

><p>"Bleh! What was that?!" Steven shouted, trying to rub most of the powder off of his face and waited for his vision to clear up; when it did, however, the first thing he saw is not the white sandy beach, but a desert landscape that seemed to stretch for miles after endless miles. It was an unsettling sight that Steven wasn't expecting at all.<p>

"W-Where am I?" Steven asked with a tone of fear and confusion, hearing nothing but the echo of his own voice. He looked everywhere, hoping to see someone...anyone in this unfamiliar landscape. But then, from a distance, he noticed a familiar figure standing out, much to his joy.

"Connie, you're here!" Steven exclaimed and rushed towards her with much speed, but when he got closer, he noticed the frown expression forming on her face. "Connie, what's wrong?

"Why do I bother putting up with you?"

"W-What?" was all Steven could say. He was utter speechless from the venomous tone coming out from Connie's voice, as she continued to talk.

"All you do is whine about the gems and how you miss them. What about me, huh? Did it ever occur to you that maybe there was something else in your life that you needed to focus on too? Looks like we were never meant to be after all, Steven. Let's move on with our lives and never cross each other's path ever again," as soon as Connie was finished, she turned around and walked towards the opposite direction.

"Connie, come back!" Steven pleaded, his eyes filled with tears and attempted to follow her.

Suddenly, a huge sandstorm appeared out of nowhere, stopping Steven's attempts in its track, seemingly sweeping the entire desert in its wrath, followed by the sky turning completely black. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the sandstorm disappeared, allowing Steven to see three certain people he thought he would never see again.

"Garnet! Amethyst! Pearl! You're back! I miss you guys so much!" Steven excitedly shouted at the top of his lungs and immediately rushed towards to the trio. But his excitement and joy disappeared when he saw that all three Crystal Gems were frowning at him. "...Guys?"

"This is all your fault!" Garnet furiously shouted, pointing her finger at him.

"Wha-?" Steven barely managed to speak, before Amethyst cut him off.

"Why didn't you help us at all?! You just stood there and did nothing, coward!"

"I wanted to help, but-" before Steven could offer them an explanation, Pearl spoke up, prompting him to remain silent.

"I can't believe Rose gave up her physical body to bring you into this world. We thought you would make a great addition to the team, but it looks like we were wrong. You are a disgrace, both as a Crystal Gem and to your mother!"

Pearl's words pierced Steven like a dagger dug deep into his heart; he was left motionless from each criticism the Gems have gave to him and he didn't know how to respond back. His whole world came crashing down right before his own eyes.

"Goodbye forever Steven!" Pearl finished her sentence, before she, Garnet and Amethyst turned their backs against him and walked away towards the distance.

"Guys, please come back!" Steven tearfully pleaded with all of might, but his words fell to deaf ears, as the Crystal Gems continued to walk, just as a white light started to consume the entire desert, along with him. He started to hear a voice call out to him that only got louder.

"Steven… Steven...?"

* * *

><p>"Steven!" Steven opened his eyes, still covered in tears, wiping off the remains off of his face, as his vision started to clear up and saw that he was back on the beach. But what really caught him off guard was Connie standing in front of him gripping his shoulders and a face full of worry, with Rose's sword planted in the sand next to them, as well as Lion standing right next to Connie, carrying what looked like a black gem in his mouth.<p>

"C-Connie, is it really you?" Steven cautiously asked.

"Of course it's me, Steven," she replied, as her face softened into a smile, reassuring him that this was the real Connie. It was enough for Steven to be relieved, but then another question came to mind.

"W-What happened to the Gem monster?"

"When it attacked you with that powder, Lion showed up just in time and allowed me to summon the sword out of his head and I used it to slice it from behind before Lion just sonic roared it to death. After Lion retrieved the gem, we found you wailing on the sand. I was too worried on what to do next."

Suddenly, Steven gave her a tight hug, causing her to blush heavily by this unexpected action.

"Oh Connie, it was terrible!" he shouted, before sobbing madly onto her shoulder. "I was in a desert all by myself and then, you, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl all turned against me and left me just like that!" Once he finished his explanation, Steven continued to sob on Connie's shoulder. "You said that you never wanted to see me again and the gems called ma a failure and that my mom shouldn't have given up for me and-"

"Steven!" she interrupted, prompting Steven to stop sobbing and focused his gaze at her. "What you experience didn't happen at all. Even if it did, there is no way I'm going to abandon you at all. I'll be at your side, no matter what."

"You will?"

"Promise."

"As a friend or is there more to us?" Steven asked, to Connie's confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Before she knew what has happening, Steven planted a quick kiss on her cheek, leaving Connie shocked, the blush on her face intensifying than usual. After a few seconds, she shook herself back to reality and planted a kiss of her own on Steven's cheek, before they looked at one another with bold confidence. The two closed the gap between each other again but this time it was for real, while Lion looked on. Their lips met for only a few seconds but it was enough for them to really feel together. No matter how bad the situation would get, they would be at each other's side, for better or for worse.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Hello again everyone. Sorry for the impromptu hiatus but with my first college semester coming to a close soon, my teachers start piling on the hard work. I just barely found time for this one. Essays a plenty for this poor writer but that's okay because I've never had an essay where I didn't get an A on. So on the 9th of December is when I'm officially done with my first semester and I'll be able to get back to the stories at hand. I'll have one month and it's gonna be a busy christmas for me.**

**During December, I'm going to be trying to finish "Return From Limbo" before returning to this. So expect at least 3 weeks before my return to SS.**

**Anyway, after the 9th, expect more on the way at a much faster rate. If only for one month.**

**Till next time, Sal out!**


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